One of the bigger box-office gambles coming down the pike this spring/summer is Universal’s $200 million board game adaptation “Battleship”, which stars Taylor Kitsch (“John Carter”), Alexander Skarsgard, Brooklyn Decker, Rihanna and Liam Neeson as a group of U.S. Navy peeps who do battle with an otherworldly enemy bent on destroying the planet, or something.

Yeah, I don’t remember any of that from the game either.

In any case, director Peter Berg and mega-hottie Decker – who plays a physical therapist engaged to Kitsch’s character – stopped by for a chat at WonderCon this past weekend to discuss the upcoming film, which hits theaters on May 18.

So…aliens, huh?

“I didn’t want it to be the U.S. fighting China,” Berg explained of the extraterrestrial element. “I wanted to make it…a fun summer popcorn movie.”

Searching for how, exactly, he was going to accomplish that goal, the “Hancock” director looked to a man who knows a thing or two about big, loud action movies. Of course I’m talking about Stephen Hawking.

“Right around the time I was trying to figure out how to do it, I saw Stephen Hawking’s documentary on aliens, and how we’re sending signals out to planets, and how he thought this was a stupid idea – and that if they come, it’ll be the end,” said Berg.

As for Brooklyn, she looked beautiful – and also said a couple things about the movie. Like, for instance: